Page 143 of Dirty Pucker

“Oh my god, Del. I’m so happy for you.”

I tug a hand through my hair and shake my head. “I honestly can’t believe it worked out this way.”

“I can. Because you did the right thing. And everyone on the team knows it and supports you.”

I lean back and fall against the wall in the hallway. “I couldn’t have made it through this without you.”

My phone buzzes.

“Sorry, one sec, I’m getting a bunch of texts,” I tell Ingrid. I pull up the group text with the guys from the team.

Xander: FUCK YEAH!

Theo: Woo hoo!!!!!

Blomdahl: Great news. Happy for you, man.

I smile at my phone screen at how happy they are for me.

“I told the guys the good news. They’re going nuts in our group chat,” I tell Ingrid.

She chuckles. “Of course they are. You’re their teammate.”

I huff out a breath. “Now I just have to wait out the madness on social media.”

“It’ll pass. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but it will. I promise. And I’ll be with you through it all.”

My heart swells at the certainty in her voice.

“Even if it doesn’t, I don’t care. I have you, sweetheart. That means more than anything. I love you. So much.”

“I love you too.”

Warmth and comfort pool in my chest. I have Ingrid. My mom and my sister are safe. I still have my career. It’ll all be okay.

Chapter 51

Ingrid

Isit next to Del on his couch. He’s staring at his phone.

I grab his hand in mine and give him a gentle squeeze. “Hey. It’s okay. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, you did a really brave thing.”

He turns to me and gives me a soft smile before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips.

“Thank you,” he says softly.

He sets his phone down on his coffee table and pulls me onto his lap. I straddle my legs on either side of him. He reaches up and holds my face in his hands.

I gaze down at him, my heart aching for him.

When he came home from practice a couple hours ago, he told me he wanted to make a post on Instagram addressing his arrest.

I was surprised. He’s not someone who shares deeply personal things on social media. But he seemed adamant about doing it. And honestly, I thought it was a great idea.

Talking about his arrest on his Instagram account is a way for him to regain control of a chaotic situation. For the past couple of days since it happened, people have been going wild on social media, speculating about all sorts of things. He releasedan official statement to the press through his lawyer, but that’s not the same as social media. With an Instagram post, he can be candid and honest in a way he can’t in a press release. He can say exactly what he wants, directly to his fans and followers.

And that’s what he did. He wrote a heartfelt post about what it was like growing up in a home with domestic violence. He explained what his dad did and why he reacted the way he did that night when he protected his mom.

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